Investigating hippocampal dysfunction in people at clinical high risk of psychosis with implications for novel drug discovery

The aims of this PhD project will be to investigate in individuals at CHR of psychosis:

1.The effect of diazepam on hippocampal CBF (measured using arterial spin labelling). We hypothesise that hippocampal perfusion will be lower in the diazepam condition compared to the placebo condition.
2.The effect of diazepam on functional connectivity at rest between the hippocampi and other relevant brain regions (measured using resting-state functional MRI). We hypothesise that hippocampal functional connectivity will be improved(directionality dependent on the reciprocal brain region) in the diazepam condition compared to the placebo condition.
3.The effect of diazepam on the interaction between the above imaging measures. We hypothesise that reduced hippocampal perfusion in the diazepam condition will be associated with improved hippocampal functional connectivity (directionality dependent on the reciprocal brain region).